1. Technical Field
The present application relates to a beverage bottling plant. The present application also relates to a method for the treatment of bottles or similar containers. The present application also relates to an apparatus for the treatment of bottles or similar containers.
2. Background Information
Background information is for informational purposes only and does not necessarily admit that subsequently mentioned information and publications are prior art.
Some methods for the treatment of bottles or similar containers involve treating with a heated medium and subsequent treatment with hot air. Each of the two treatment steps are performed on a treatment line of constant length at treatment stations arranged on the circumference of a powered rotor rotating around a vertical axis. The treated containers are then generally forwarded to a filling machine for the sterile or aseptic filling with a liquid product.
To monitor the success of the two-step treatment with a heated medium and hot air, the temperature of the container is measured at the end of each treatment line using a non-contact temperature sensor, for example. If the container temperature deviates excessively from a reference temperature, the respective container is removed and/or an alarm is annunciated and/or the treatment unit and downstream filling station are shut down.
The principle behind temperature monitoring is that sufficiently long treatment, and thus successful treatment, of the container with the heated treatment medium results in a certain container temperature. Disadvantageous is the fact that the effectiveness of treatment and thus the temperature of the containers are dependent on various parameters and variables, such as the type and size of the containers; machine speed, i.e. the number of treated containers per unit time; and the cool down process undergone by the containers during treatment, which process itself is dependent on a variety of in part random variables, including the ambient temperature, air flow, humidity, etc. For these reasons, the tolerance range for deviations of the container temperature measured at the end of the respective treatment line must be or should be relatively wide, e.g., on the scale of +/−twenty degrees Celsius.